HARAN (ha'ran), (Heb. TO, haw-rawn' , moun taineer).
1. One of the three sons of Terah, brother of Abraham and Nahor, and father of Lot, Milcah and Iscah. He died before his father Terah; which, from the manner in which it is mentioned, appears to have been a much rarer case in those days than at present (Gen. xi :27, sq.), B. C. 2223.
2. A Gershonite Levite of the family of Shimei, in the time of David (1 Chron. xxiii :9), B. C. 1014.
3.. More properly Charan (Heb. T;17, khaw rawn' , parched), called by the Greeks Charran, and by the Romans Charrx. It was situated in the northwestern part of Mesopotamia, on a river of the same name running into the Euphrates. It is supposed to have been so called from Haran, the father of Lot and brother of Abraham ; but there appears no ground for this conclusion except the identity of names. Abraham, after he had been called from Ur of the Chaldees, tarried here till his father, Terah, died, when he proceeded to the land of Canaan (Gen. xi :31, .38; Acts vii :4)• The elder branch of the family still remained at Haran ; which led to the interesting journeys thither described in the patriarchal history—first, that of Abraham's servant to obtain a wife for Isaac (Gen. xxiv) and next, that of Jacob when
he fled to evade the wrath of Esau (Gen. xxviii: to). The plain bordering on this town is cele brated in history as the scene of a battle in which the Roman army was defeated by the Parthians, and the Triumvir Crassus killed.
This place is not at all connected with the modern Haran-el-awarnad, east of Damascus, as !maintained by Dr. Beke. Haran still retains its ancient name in the form of Harran, and is only peopled by a few families of wandering Arabs, who are led thither by a plentiful supply of water from several small streams. It is sit uated in a flat and sandy plain 36 deg. 4o min. N. lat., 39 deg. 2 min. 4 5 sec. E. long.
It is mentioned by Ezekiel (xxvii :23) among the places which traded with Tyre. This trade would be very natural, as Haran was the frontier town of Babylon, commanding both the roads and fords of the Euphrates. "It was the city of the moon god, the foundation of whose temple went back to prehistorical times, and was restored by Nabonidus" (Sayce, Higher Crit. and Man., p. 5o7, sq.) 4. Son of Caleb by his concubine, Ephah (1 Chron. ii :46), B. C. 1618.